Dome

Satirical etching depicting Joseph Montgolfier sitting in the clouds blowing soap bubbles with a pipe, fantasizing that his aerial inventions will help France conquer British Gibraltar. He is balancing a bubble on the pipe while pointing to one particular bubble. Underneath is written his imagined monologue: '0 by Gar, dis be de grand invention. Dis will immortalise my king, my country, and myself/We will declare the war against our enimie; we will made des English quake, by Gar/We will inspect their camp, we will intercept their fleet, and we will set fire to their dock-yards/and, by Gar, we will take Gibraltar, in de air-balloon; and when we have/conquered d'English, den we conquer de other countrie, and make them all colonie/to de Grande Monarque.'For more information about this item, visit https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/digital_objects/740